Down Among the Dead Read online

The time for fooling myself was over. I wasn’t going to roll over and die; no matter how many of my people I lost, I’d keep fighting to the end. I was too damn stubborn to do anything but that.

  Besides, we weren’t anywhere close to the end, and this was my mess to fix. Jo was right about that. The dead wouldn’t let me walk away without at least making the attempt.

  Gita stirred in her bunk, waking slowly. I knew from experience Alba would sleep for another hour, as she often stayed up later than the rest of us, doing research and calculations on her smati. We would need to wake her.

  I checked my own smati. The brain-computer interfaces we all had were still online. We could communicate with each other on our internal coms, but we were locked out of the bulk of the compound’s systems. Alba, of course, had found a way in past the security at the basic levels but hadn’t made it any further than that. The rest of us made do with only our internal network to avoid raising the Shen’s suspicions. It limited our communication distance, but I was planning on us all staying together so it wouldn’t be an issue.

  The sun was rising. This little jungle base we were on was always moving, but the majority of the Shen would be starting their daily routines in a little over an hour. Right now they would be either groggily ending a shift or headed to one.

  I’d seen as much even while I’d been lost to my grief, part of my brain cataloging the information and filing it away for a time when it would be useful.

  I pushed away from the window and pulled the sheet off my bunk. Tapping on Alba’s bunk on my way by, I issued the quiet order. “Get up.”

  Johar was lying on her bunk flipping a makeshift knife between her fingers. It didn’t surprise me that she had it; Johar wasn’t the type to stay unarmed for long. My movement caught her attention and she rolled to her side to watch me but didn’t say anything.

  I sat on the edge of her bunk and held my hand out for her knife, cutting and then tearing the sheet into strips.

  The noise roused Gita the rest of the way and she climbed from the bunk above us, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

  “Good morning, Majesty.”

  “Good morning, Gita,” I replied, watching as my greeting caused my Ekam to stutter-step on her way to the bathroom.

  “Majesty?”

  “Don’t make a fuss—” My protest was muffled as Gita dropped to her knees and wrapped me into a hug.

  As I hugged her back I realized that my Ekam had been grieving as much as I had. The loss of her fellow BodyGuards, of Hao, and even of her mother had to have weighed on her heart.

  The latter had been killed by Wilson’s treachery not that long ago, and I knew she had to still be grieving for Clara. I did, too.

  “I’m sorry.”

  I waved off her apology when she released me. “I should be the one apologizing. I have not been the empress you deserve these last few weeks.”

  Gita’s smile was watery. “You had every reason, Majesty. I am just glad you are back.”

  There was so much hope in her words I couldn’t bring myself to argue and instead offered a smile before I returned to the destruction of my sheet.

  “Majesty, what are you doing?”

  “You have an escape plan, I’m assuming?” I replied, wrapping the first strip around my wrist and then my hand, covering up any piece of exposed skin.

  “Nothing concrete yet, we’ve been waiting.” Gita’s exhale spoke louder than her words.

  Waiting for me to wake up.

  “Don’t make it too tight,” Johar said, sitting up and reaching for my arm. “You’ll limit your movement.”

  My Ekam didn’t protest; instead she moved to my other side with a frown. “You’ll want your throat covered also, Majesty.” She reached for the remaining sheet and took Jo’s knife from the bed, cutting a triangular-shaped wedge and wrapping it twice around my neck. “You can pull this piece up to get some coverage on your face.”

  “It’s better than nothing.” I looked at her as Johar finished tying off my other hand. “I’m surprised there’s no protest.”

  “Emmory always said I indulged you too much.” Gita’s smile flickered to life, edged with pain. “But I understand this need to hit something and I’m trusting you have a reason for this beyond recklessness.”

  “A shuttle came in last night. We’re right at shift change, plus the early-morning hour will help us. We need to move now.”

  It took us less than ten minutes to shred the remaining sheets and protect the others. Alba had snapped awake once she realized what was happening and scrambled for the packs of food they’d stashed around the room.

  “Back,” I whispered, and headed for the door. Gita, surprising me again, didn’t argue. I pulled open the door and the two Shen Aiz so charitably called escorts rather than guards came to attention. Hamah and Sere, if my memory served me right.

  “Your Majesty?”

  Hamah stiffened when I stepped from the room, finger creeping to the trigger on the Koros 201, the cousin weapon to the Koros 101 Aiz had shown me when we’d first been taken. It fired miniature projectiles at high speed. I hadn’t seen a demonstration of their destructive power and didn’t really want to be present for one.

  “Are you feeling better? Mia asked that she be notified if you wished to see her.” Sere, the shorter of the pair, smiled at me as he spoke. “If you’ll wait here.”

  Neither of them had clued in to my attire and I punched Hamah in the throat as a response, jerking up the scarf to cover the lower half of my face as I kicked Sere in the knee and dropped him to the floor. Another kick to Sere’s head knocked him out as he fell, and I brought my covered arm up to block the first guard’s swing.

  It was wild; Hamah’s palm spread as he instinctively tried to find a bare patch of skin to touch instead of just leading with the force of a punch that would have stunned me had it connected. I dodged out of the way, planting my booted foot in his solar plexus, and kicked. His head hit the wall and he slid to the floor unconscious.

  “Let’s move,” I said, picking up the guns and tossing one to Gita. “Alba, which way?”

  She pointed to her right. “Down to the end of the hallway and right again, but there will be guards at the outside door and possibly some inside as well.”

  “Is the door locked?”

  “I don’t know,” she replied with a shake of her head as we took off down the hallway. I glanced behind us at Gita.

  “It seems unlikely,” she replied. “We couldn’t—or rather—Alba couldn’t find any programs in the base system for door locks. So they’re either unlocked or manual.”

  “Either way,” Johar said. “Let me give it a good kick, we’ll be fine.”

  The door when we reached it was not only not locked but not guarded, and I shared a worried look with my Ekam as we slipped into the predawn light.

  “Too quiet,” she whispered as we moved around the exterior of the low-slung compound.

  “Yeah.”

  The Shen couldn’t have anticipated this escape. They had no way of knowing I’d come out of my stupor and—

  “You will, Majesty. I’ve seen it.” Mia’s words on the bridge of her ship came back to me faster than the speed of light.

  “Fuck.” I skidded to a halt as we came around the corner. Mia Cevalla stood by the shuttle, her hands folded in front of her.

  “Good morning, Majesty.” She smiled a slow, knowing smile but otherwise didn’t react, even when I brought the Koros 201 up and pointed it at her.

  I tugged the scarf down, moving toward her with Gita at my back. “Get out of my way. I really don’t want to shoot you, but I will if you don’t let us go.”

  Mia took a deep breath, looked down at her hands and then back at me. Her second smile made my gut twist with want and I muttered a curse under my breath. I did not need this ill-timed distraction, so I kicked it back out of view where it belonged.

  “Aiz will come through that door in just a moment. You should hear the ruckus he’s making on the co
ms. There are three ways this can play out, Your Majesty,” she said. “Kill me, get on the ship, and everyone dies. Kill me, and Gita and Alba will die in the firefight that will happen when Aiz arrives. You and Johar will survive, for a while at least. Or drop your weapons and everyone lives.”

  I put my hand out, stopping Gita from bringing her own weapon up as the door to our right flew open.

  “Only two options now,” Mia murmured. “I am fine, Aiz.” She put her hand up.

  Aiz Cevalla was dressed only in a pair of black pants, leaving his lean torso bare, and his brown hair was disheveled as though he’d just rolled out of bed. It gave him a charming, slightly carefree appearance, but the glare he directed at me could have leveled a city block, and I was reasonably sure he could kill all of us with the pistol that was in his hand. “She broke her promise. Twice.”

  “Perhaps,” Mia admitted. “It should have been expected, but you all got lazy thinking she would drift in her grief forever. Don’t be reactionary. She will apologize. I’ve already forgiven her for it.”

  “Majesty.” Gita shifted just enough to put herself in between me and Aiz. “I want you to go.”

  She had to have known what her words would do to me, coming on the heels of Mia’s warning. There was no way I’d let anyone else die if I had the slightest control over it.

  “No.” I put my left hand up, my eyes locked on Mia as I lowered the gun to the ground. “Gita, put it down.”

  For the barest of moments I didn’t think she would obey me, but finally, with her jaw muscles flexing, she slowly lowered her weapon to the ground as a host of Shen spilled out of the building.

  “Crisis averted,” Mia said, and blew out a breath. “Now, Your Majesty, I was about to sit down to breakfast. Would you like to join me?”

  Judging from the look Aiz shot her, he wasn’t on board with that plan, which made me more than happy to agree.

  “Sure.”

  “Aiz, why don’t you see Hail’s people back to their rooms. Be nice.” She gave him a look that was then transferred to me. “You didn’t kill Sere and Hamah, did you?”

  “They should be fine except for the headaches,” I replied.

  “Consequences for underestimating you, then, though a broken promise from you is surprising. You can apologize to me as we walk.” She turned for the door; I shared a look with Gita and then followed Mia.

  I held Aiz’s gaze as I passed him. “Not a hair out of place on them,” I said.

  His expression didn’t flicker. “I give you my word.”

  Point to the Shen, I thought, but I had to trust he’d follow his sister’s orders and leave my people unharmed. Two losses before breakfast; at this rate you’re going to lose this game, Hail.

  3

  If we’re your prisoners my oath not to escape is pretty much useless. I’m honor-bound to get my people out of here safely, by any means necessary,” I said as Mia and I headed down the hallway.

  “You’re not our prisoner.”

  “Then I’m sorry for the broken oath and for the injuries. Can we go home now?” It was a strange formal dance we were doing, but it blessed me with another of her smiles.

  She ignored the question. “It is good to see you feeling better, Hail. Can I call you Hail? I’d like for us to be friends.”

  “Is Aiz going to retaliate against my people?”

  “No.” Mia seemed so certain. “Mostly he’s mad because he was wrong and I was right. He really hates it when that happens.”

  “You can see the future, like Fasé.”

  “Yes.” Mia stopped at an opened doorway and gestured inside. The room was so plain as to be familiar. I’d seen concrete bunkers like this on dozens of planets in our arm of the galaxy. The only difference was most of the rooms here were circular, with curving walls and domed ceilings. “Have a seat.”

  I sat at the table in the center of the room and looked over the simple spread, feeling my appetite wake up for the first time since Earth.

  “This was inventive,” Mia said, tapping my wrapped arm as she sat next to me.

  I somehow managed not to jerk away from her. “Your people are too focused on their advantage against a human opponent,” I replied, reaching for a dish of unfamiliar orange fruit. “It’s a weakness if you’re fighting someone intent on winning.”

  Mia’s laughter was as bright as the fruit. “They are all under orders not to hurt you. That’s also something of a disadvantage.”

  “Why?”

  “Why what?”

  “Why are they not supposed to hurt me?”

  “Hail,” Mia replied, and my name was an exhale, though her smile was as patient as her tone. “You are the Star of Indrana. We have not lied to you. We want your help. We want you on our side. We brought you here because leaving you on Earth was far too dangerous, especially after what happened to your embassy.”

  “Who blew up my embassy?”

  Mia reached for a steaming dish, spooning the purple grains into a smaller bowl. “Try this, I think you will like it.”

  I took the bowl, pouring in a vanilla-scented milk from the pitcher Mia pushed my way. It was clear she wasn’t going to answer my question, so I asked a different one. “Who’s in charge?” I gestured at her with the pitcher. “On Earth it seemed as though Aiz was, but—”

  “It was easier to let him be on Earth. Adora was distracted, is constantly distracted, by him. She discounts me because of who I am.” Mia lifted a shoulder and picked up the pitcher to pour milk over her own bowl. “Speaking of Aiz, he’ll go see to Hamah and Sere but then he’ll be back and won’t leave again. All I’ve really done is bought us some time alone.” Her laugh lingered in the air, tangling itself into my brain.

  So much for ignoring distractions.

  “If you have any questions you’d rather he not hear, now would be the time to ask them.”

  “You seem awfully certain I won’t hurt you.”

  “You have no reason to.” Again with the patient smile, though this time I caught the surety behind it. “And you won’t make the mistake of thinking I am defenseless.”

  “Fair enough.” I took another bite, chewing as I studied her. “Are you going to answer my question? Who’s in charge?”

  “We are the co-leaders of the Shen, Hail. I trust my brother and he trusts me. We make decisions together whenever we can, but there are times when it is easier to just believe the other will handle it the best way possible.”

  “Who made the call to kill my people? You or him?”

  Mia didn’t blink at the venom in my words. “Neither of us, Hail. I believe a man named Jamison was responsible for the destruction of your embassy.”

  We’d known Jamison was there even before the embassy blew. His men had attacked the party, hounded us through the streets, blown up a shuttle and the building we’d been hiding in before finally destroying the embassy.

  It appeared my long-running feud with the mercenary smuggler was reaching critical mass.

  “That’s what happens when you hire shit mercenaries,” I said finally. “They do things like blow up embassies and shoot heads of state.” I struggled to put the memory of the flight from the party to the embassy out of my head, but it insisted on playing just behind my eyes. “Is President Hudson alive?”

  “I believe he survived.”

  “My people didn’t.” I put my spoon down, my appetite gone. “Your mercs killed them.”

  Mia raised an eyebrow at my snarl and shook her head. “They were not our mercenaries, Hail. I would not have hired Jamison. I certainly wouldn’t have been so thoughtless as to have him attack the party like that. And there is nothing in this universe that would have convinced me to attack your embassy.”

  “Then your brother did it. Why else was Jamison there?” The words had barely left my mouth before the voice in my head whispered that Aiz had been as surprised as I was by the attack. I’d seen it. Not to mention I’d seen the merc bring his weapon to bear on Mia.

  Jamiso
n could have been after Hao. Though his reckless, head-on attack had cost him the bounty Po-Sin had levied against his nephew for leaving the Cheng gang and swearing his loyalty to me.

  “Hiring the mercenaries was my decision,” Mia said. “We used Aiz to offer the contracts because we assumed they would react better to his face than mine.” She rolled her eyes toward the ceiling. “Men are strange. I prefer your empire’s way of doing things.” She set her spoon down and laid her hand palm up across the edge of the table at me. “I picked the mercenaries we offered contracts to, and you have my word that Jamison was not among them.”

  “Why not?” I ignored the way my hand itched to reach out to hers. My attraction to Mia hadn’t dimmed the least little bit in my grief, it seemed, but at the moment it was an unwelcome feeling. I fisted my hands and shoved them into my lap.

  “You don’t like him and for good reason,” Mia replied, pulling her hand away with a tiny smile. “I know you, Hail. If I wanted your help—and I do—why would I bring someone you hate on board? I picked the mercenaries we hired with careful consideration—they are all groups you worked with or for in the past. Groups you respect. Jamison does not have your respect. Moreover, he’s reckless and cruel. Sloppy and without the kind of control I know you value.”

  “You know an awful lot about me.”

  Mia dipped her head and I wondered if I was imagining the blush that seemed to stain her cheeks. “It’s the same reason Aiz approached Hao for help on Pashati. Though I understand that caused far more disruption than any of us intended.” She lifted her head and smiled. “I misjudged how much Hao cares for you. I did not think it would cause such a ripple effect. Po-Sin is still quite upset over his defection.”

  I blinked at her, unable to hide my shock. The Shen’s tone was matter-of-fact, and as much as I cursed myself for a fool—I didn’t think she was lying to me.

  “Po-Sin will go after Jamison for killing Hao.” I shoved a hand into my hair. “I need you to let me go so I can get to him first.”

  “It is not an option I can consider.”

  “If I am not a prisoner I’m free to leave.”